Worship for nature
The worshipping of nature was inherited from ancestors of the Mongolian race thousands of years ago and has been reflected in the tales and legends of the Mongolian people. Since that time when the patriarchal system was disintegrated, reverence and respect of elders and of natural phenomena started to develop and flourished as a form of worship and belief. Offerings and sacrifices were made to the sun, moon, stars, planets, heavenly bodies, earth, sky, mountains and hills that have been immortalised in the pictures painted on rocks and stones often found in the vast steppe lands of Mongolia. These offerings are directly related to the nomadic lifestyle of the Mongols who were engaged in livestock breeding.Idolisation of holy spirits
The idolisation of holy spirits was the earliest faith of the Mongolian nation. This faith then transformed and became immortalised in the idolising of deer, horses, cattle, wolves, falcons, etc., during the periods of the Huns, Sumbe, Kidan, and Pan-Mongolian tribes. The rock paintings of the ancient Mongolian tribes depicted female antelopes, male and female deer, wild mountain goats and bears as holy idols. The most popular objects of idolisation among the Mongolian tribes were Burte Chono and Goo Maral. The idolisation and worship of these Mongols was closely related with the reverence and worship of Father Heaven and Mother Earth. The worship of fire also belonged to the spiritual beliefs of the Mongols. Fire worshipping by Mongols was related to the unusual purifying nature of fire. Stemming from such a deep beliefs and the admiration of fire, a number of customs and traditions related to fire appeared. For example, as fire is considered a master, it was frowned upon to throw dirt into or to stick a knife into a fire. It was also forbidden to spit into a fire or to jump over it. The ceremony of fire offering was very popular among the western Mongols. Fire offering was conducted in the presence of the whole settlement when the breastbone-of a sheep, fat or grease was offered to the fire. The tradition of fire offering still survives. In the early morning on the first day of Tsagaan Sar it has become a tradition for the family to conduct a fire offering and throw a piece of fat into the fire and burn juniper incense.
